Chu ngoc anh

A Pho Vietz restaurant at Utama shopping mall in Malaysia (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – Ton Ngoc Hiep, who already opened 10 Vietnamese “pho” (noodle soup) restaurants in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, is planning to bring the brand to the UK and the US.

Speaking with the Vietnam News Agency (VNA)’s reporters, he expressed his hope to introduce Vietnamese cuisine to Malaysian and international friends. If the COVID-19 pandemic had not occurred, he would have opened “Pho Vietz” restaurants in the UK and the US last year.

Although Malaysia boasts a diverse cuisine, the chef has gained a foothold in the country’s food market as there are 10 “Pho Vietz” restaurants with 120 employees in Kuala Lumpur, only six years after its establishment.

Ton Ngoc Hiep (third from left) in front of his restaurant (Photo: VNA)

Hiep plans to open five more restaurants this year, along with managing another in Hong Kong and promoting the brand in Manchester and New York.

When working at a five-star hotel in Ho Chi Minh City in the 1990s, he was tasked with introducing Vietnamese cuisine to Switzerland diners during a three-month programme.

That working trip kindled his pride when foreigners highly appreciated Vietnamese cuisine , he recalled.

During a trip to Malaysia, he had a chance to meet with foreign chefs who wished to introduce Vietnamese dishes in their menus.

Hiep emphasised that he spares no efforts in gathering fresh materials, in a bid to retain the “soul” of the iconic Vietnamese dish as much as possible.

To run 10 restaurants at the same time while ensuring food quality at each of them, the chef set up a centre for food processing and manufacturing./.

Suez Canal incident keeps Vietnamese exporters busy, photo AFP

Furniture exporter Viet Products Corporation last week said that even though the backlog has been cleared up at the Suez, it has still borne the growing costs for shipping. “The expense per container has increased to $5,000, from $3,000 last year,” said Nguyen Van Sang, managing director of Furnist, a brand under Viet Products. Sang said that due to operating under the free-on-board form, its partners have been afraid to book new orders, resulting in interruption in its performance.

“It takes us several attempts to ship a container. For example, with a 10-container booking, we can only ship about three or four containers, and the remaining ones will have to wait. That has hampered us from delivering on schedule,” Sang said.

The seafood industry has also been put in the same corner. Truong Dinh Hoe, secretary-general of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), said that the sector is facing accumulating costs for hiring frozen containers to export to the European Union and the United States. The problem stemmed from the effect of the Suez Canal and also serious shortages of containers which has been an issue in recent years.

Kelly Dung, sales manager at international transport firm T&M Forwarding, said that lasting impacts of the recent Suez incident will continue to force growing expenses for shipping. “Shipping companies will have to cut some vessels because of that as well as the ongoing impacts of COVID-19,” Dung told VIR.

With the logistics industry being paralysed due to the pandemic for over a year, now congestion at EU ports may send vessels back to Asia, adding complexity to the situation.

“The current expense is on average about $4,000 per container travelling to the US and about $7,500 per container to the EU,” Dung added. “The price may even double in late April and early May.”

According to Thetech Co., Ltd, a small electronic component importer and exporter, the sums are “too heavy” for its operation. For over a year, the company has been angling for solutions to solve its transport cost issue and has resorted to accelerating shipping through air routes. However, the expense has still ballooned by 10 per cent compared to last year.

Hoe from VASEP said that local seafood exporters are still looking for solutions.

Meanwhile, local rice exporters have been lowering prices for their products in an attempt to enhance the items’ competitiveness against Thai and Indian components. Moreover, they have been attempting to negotiate with overseas partners to extend the shipping timeline, according to the Vietnam Food Association.

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The painting ” Portrait de Mademoiselle Phuong ” (Photo: www.sggp.org.vn)

Hanoi (VNA) – An oil painting on canvas entitled Portrait de Mademoiselle Phuong (Portrait of Mademoiselle Phuong) by late painter Mai Trung Thu has sold at an auction for the highest price paid for Vietnamese art .

Offered in the auction Beyond Legends: Modern Art Evening Sale of Sotheby’s Hong Kong, the painting was sold for a record price of 3.1 million USD on April 18.

With a guide price of 500,000 USD, the price of the painting eventually reached 2.573 million USD. After taxes and fees were added, the price totalled 3.1 million USD.

This is more than double the previous highest valued auction sale which the painting Khoa Than (Nude) by Le Pho, which sold for 1.4 million USD.

Portrait of Mademoiselle Phuong was painted by Mai Trung Thu (1906-1980) in 1930, when he was an art teacher at Lycée Français de Hue (a French High School in Hue).

Mai Trung Thu is pictured in 1964 (Photo: sothebys.com)

As one of the first artists who graduated from the first course of the Fine Arts College of Indochina, or Ecole des Beaux-Art de l’Indochine, in Hanoi he was classified as one of the four most renowned Vietnamese artists based in France, together with Le Pho, Vu Cao Dam and Le Luu.

His reputation was closely associated with silk paintings on the subjects of women, children and everyday life, showcasing typical Asian culture in the early 20th century. This painting, beautifully rendered in the oil medium, is exceptionally rare as the artist devoted himself to painting on silk for most of his career.

According to Sotheby’s description, “a monumental, yet remarkably tender and intimate, Mai Trung Thu’s Portrait of Mademoiselle Phuong stands as the most significant and largest painting by the artist to be offered at auction… Poignantly, the beguiling portrait also captures Mai Thu’s deep admiration of its sitter, a noble lady rumoured to be the artist’s love interest”.

The painting was first exhibited at the Fine Arts College of Indochina in 1930, before travelling to Paris to attend the prestigious 1931 Paris Colonial Exhibition, announcing the painter’s entrance into the European art world.

“Mai Thu’s Portrait de Mademoiselle Phuong is one of the most significant and recognisable masterpieces in Vietnamese art history, often likened to Le Pho’s L’age heaureux (The Happy Age). Capturing the lyrical and romantic qualities typical of the early oil paintings of the École’s students, both works were well-received at the 1931 Exposition,” wrote Sotheby’s on its website.

Portrait of Mademoiselle Phuong was also featured in the iconic film The Scent of the Green Papaya, a Vietnamese-language film directed by Tran Anh Hung in France in 1993./.

A view of Bach Long Vi island (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – Bach Long Vi – a frontline island in the northern port city of Hai Phong, is a large fishing field in the Bac Bo (Tonkin) Gulf, with a special strategic location and security-defence significance in safeguarding national sea and island sovereignty and developing the maritime economy .

In April, Bach Long Vi is decorated colourfully with flowers and flags ahead of the upcoming elections of deputies to the 15th National Assembly and all-level People’s Councils for the 2021-2026 tenure, which is slated for May 23.

Bach Long Vi, which means the dragon’s tail, is a small island located at about 110km from Hai Phong city. Its population was 624, according to 2019 statistics.

It is one of the two island districts of Hai Phong, which was founded in 1992. It takes 5-6 hours to travel by boat from the mainland to the mostly untouched island.

Bach Long Vi has been defined as a future fishery logistics and rescue centre in the northern region. It has accessed fresh water and power supply.

However, the island has faced numerous difficulties, especially in travelling to the island. A passenger vessel called “red flamboyant flower” – the typical flower of Hai Phong – has been built to carry people and goods to the island.

Reporter Le Nhung from the Hai Phong Radio and Television, who visited the island in mid-April, said that she is strongly impressed by the hospitality of soldiers and islanders on Bach Long Vi.

The silent sacrifice by the soldiers who are safeguarding the fatherland’s sea and island sovereignty, and the strong spirit of overcoming tough conditions on the island greatly inspired her.

Vice Standing Chairman of the Hai Phong Journalists’ Association Nguyen Anh Tu said that islanders considered the Lunar New Year editions of media agencies and newspapers across the country and goods sent to the island as priceless gifts that enriched their social life./.

A ritual held at the Feast and Commemoration Festival for Hoang Sa Soldiers (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – “ Le khao le the linh Hoang Sa ” (Feast and Commemoration Festival for Hoang Sa Soldiers) was held in Ly Son district, the central province of Quang Ngai, on April 19.

According to Vietnam’s feudal state history, the Hoang Sa Flotilla was set up when the Nguyen Lords began their reign in the south of the country. Thousands of sailors overcame roaring waves and storms to survey sea routes, plant milestones and erect steles affirming national territory in Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos, and exploit marine resources ordered by Nguyen Lords. Their missions were full of dangers, and many of them never returned to land.

To pay tribute to the men enlisted in the flotilla, “Le khao le the linh Hoang Sa” has been observed through hundreds of years by families in Ly Son island and many coastal areas in Quang Ngai.

The festival, which is held every April on the island, was recognised as part of the national intangible cultural heritage by the State in 2016. It reflects Vietnam’s history of protecting the national sovereignty in the East Sea, especially over the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos.

Ly Son island covers an area of less than 10 sq.km but it has nearly 100 relics, most of which are related to the Hoang Sa Flotilla, such as the empty graves built for Hoang Sa soldiers who never returned to land, the temples dedicated to Pham Quang Anh and Vo Van Khiet who were captains of the Hoang Sa Flotilla, and a showroom displaying the items of the Hoang Sa Flotilla sailors who also controlled Bac Hai and Ba Ri Lagoon.

A monument and memorial house dedicated to the Hoang Sa Flotilla stand near the main road of the island./.